Archives for June 2007

For nearly 50 years, until 1971, Pier 21 served as a gateway to Canada for over 1.5 million new immigrants. To commemorate the important role that these newcomers have had in shaping modern-day Canada, the site which is now home to an immigration museum, has been named one of the “Seven Wonders of Canada”.

On the Atlantic coast of Canada, in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, we find one of the busiest harbours in North America. In a port where thousands of ships carrying hundreds of millions worth of goods pass through each year, national attention has turned once again towards one pier in the harbour that has not received a single ship in over 30 years.

This has been a banner year for Canada’s immigration museum at Pier 21. The pier closed down as an active immigration processing center in 1971, and sat unused for over two decades afterwards. In 1999 the building was refurbished and re-opened as a museum. After nearly a decade open to the public, the museum is expanding, with the addition earlier this year of the Scotiabank Research Centre. The research institute will host a collection of documents and artefacts from the Canadian immigration experience. In addition, this year has seen a funding boost towards the museum’s planned expansion, including a federal government grant and private donations. With the increased attention from the “Seven Wonders” honour, it is expected the museum will reach its fundraising target for the expansion by the end of the year.

The Canadian “Seven Wonders” list was compiled by a panel of judges for a program on CBC television and radio, Canada’s national public broadcaster. The Atlantic immigration gateway at Pier 21, which was the first stop for so many Canadians on their arrival to the country, shares the honour with some impressive competition. Some of the other wonders rounding out the list include the world-famous Niagara Falls, the breathtaking Rocky Mountain range, and the well-preserved historic quarter of Quebec City, which is recognized as a UNESCO world-heritage site. The judges pointed to the importance of immigration to Canada’s multicultural national identity in recognizing the country’s last remaining ocean immigration shed.

Ontario has now joined every other provincial government in offering a provincial immigration program, designed to fast-track the issuance of Canadian Permanent Resident Visas for foreign workers with skills in demand.

The Ontario government has recently introduced the Ontario Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), designed to help Ontario employers attract and retain the skilled immigrants needed for the provincial labour market. The program is designed for highly skilled workers and specialized professionals in the manufacturing, education, health care, and construction industries. The program also focuses on retaining international students, graduating from Ontario universities and colleges. Approximately half of all nominations will be reserved for businesses outside the Greater Toronto Area to encourage economic development in regional economies.

Every year since 1987, Ontario has been the province of choice for more than half of all Canadian newcomers, making immigration a key component of Ontario society. Being launched as a pilot program, the new PNP aims to be responsive to the dynamic immigration landscape and changing labour market needs of the province. At this time, the Ontario Pilot Provincial Nominee Program is divided between the Employer Category and the Multinational Investor Category.

The Employer CategoryBeing employer-driven, the Ontario employer must apply for eligibility under the PNP and then nominate the potential employees as candidates for Provincial Nomination. Individuals cannot apply for the PNP without a valid job offer from an eligible Ontario employer. To be considered an eligible employer, Ontario companies must meet minimum requirements for gross revenue, number of employees in Ontario, and age of the enterprise. Once granted approval by the provincial government, the Ontario employer can offer permanent, full-time positions in the eligible occupations on the Pilot PNP’s Occupations List. The list reflects the three streams of the Employer Category:

The Professional Stream comprises 10 occupations in the health care and education systems.

The Skilled Worker Stream consists of 10 occupations in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

The International Graduate Stream targets those recent graduates who are qualified to work in the above-mentioned 20 occupations.

The Multinational Investor CategoryThis category is designed to help those companies who are making major investments in Ontario to bring key foreign workers into their Ontario enterprise. Again, the employer must be pre-screened by the provincial government to ensure that the company meets the minimum requirements for number of employees and amount of monetary investment in Ontario.

The Ontario Pilot PNP is an element of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), which has set aside $920 million over the next five years for language and settlement services in Ontario. Aware of the importance of immigrant retention, the Ontario government has established mechanisms for better integration into Ontario society and into the Canadian labour force.

Over the past couple of years, the Government of Canada has been taking steps to address past injustices to Chinese Canadians, Indo-Canadians and other ethnic communities – “actions related to immigration restrictions and wartime measures, which, although legal at the time, are considered to be inconsistent with the values that Canadians hold today.”

The current Canadian federal government is now taking responsibility for some of the less positive aspects of Canadian immigration history. Consultations with various ethno-cultural groups seeking redress for past wrongs have been progressing and the new terms and conditions of the Community Historical Recognition Program (CHRP) are being finalized. Agreements have already been reached with some ethno-cultural communities and apologies and symbolic payments to survivors of the long-ago policies have been made. “All you can do as a government is demonstrate though meaningful symbolic actions, serious regret for what happened in the past,” explains Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multicultural and Canadian identity.

One of the Canadian government’s focuses in these consultations is the Indo-Canadian community and the Komagata Maru ship incident of 1914. The incident, for which Indo-Canadians have long been seeking a formal apology, saw over 350 Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus forced back to sea from a Vancouver harbour, after having been detained in the ship with little food for over a month. The British Columbia Court of Appeal administered the deportation order based on the existing law that immigrants who had not traveled directly from their country of origin were prohibited from landing in Canada. As ships could not manage a direct passage from India to Canada at the time, the law was perceived as discriminatory.

In a speech made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August 2006, he stated that “the government of Canada acknowledges the Komagata Maru incident and [will] soon undertake consultations with the Indo-Canadian community on how best to recognize this sad moment in [Canada’s] history.” Since that time, meetings and town hall gatherings have been held in Toronto and Vancouver with representation from the different religions and different segments of the Indo-Canadian community. Seeking to facilitate intra-community dialogue, solicit the views of Indo-Canadians, and provide a degree of healing and closure, the meetings reinforced the Canadian government’s commitment to the community. A report was prepared for the Minister of Canadian Heritage with suggestions about how to commemorate the incident as well as the impacts of Indian migration to Canada. The government is currently deliberating over an action plan for redress to the Indo-Canadian community.

Indian troops first visited Canada on their way back from Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Back in India they described a country waiting to be settled by British subjects like themselves, and migration from India to Canada began. The past 40 years have seen the most concentrated immigration, as hundreds of thousands of people from the Indian subcontinent have chosen to make Canada their home. India remains a top source country for Canadian immigration, under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. The present Indo-Canadian population is about three quarters of a million.

To overcome the challenges of having internationally-obtained qualifications recognized in Canada, a new government office has been established to provide support services to newcomers as they navigate the credential recognition process.

A series of articles in the Toronto Star recently shone a powerful spotlight on the immigration consulting industry. What they found does not speak well for the industry.

First a bit of background on the subject. For many years only lawyers in good standing with their provincial bar association were allowed to represent clients before immigration tribunals. In reality however, individuals seeking to immigrate to Canada were receiving advice from a variety of sources, including consultants from a wide range of backgrounds. With no regulation however, reputable consultants practiced alongside individuals with little in the way of credentials and credibility.

Equality is a fundamental Canadian value. Whether you are a fifth-generation Canadian or you have just received your Canadian citizenship this morning, you are entitled to exactly the same set of rights and responsibilities. Or at least that’s the way it’s meant to be.